Hello LineageOS 16.0

We’ve been working hard since August to port our unique features to this new version of Android. Thanks to the major cleanup and refactoring done in the previous version, we were able to focus more on features and reliability this time; in particular, both Privacy Guard and the su addon received a sizeable amount of improvements.

With some minor changes made to the Styles API, it is now compatible with what will eventually become the default implementation of dark mode in Android. In the future, more and more third party apps will follow the system style, meaning our Styles API will allow you to have a more coherent experience across apps.

As we announced when the Summer Survey 2 results were posted, we will be introducing new features to Trust, beginning with the ability to block new USB device connections when device is locked. Please note that this feature has to be enabled on a per-device basis due to the layer at which this was implemented. Trebuchet is also now able to hide apps and require authentication before opening them. Please note that this restriction is limited to Trebuchet and is not system-wide.

We feel that the 16.0 branch has reached feature parity with 15.1 and is ready for initial release. With 16.0 being the most recent and most actively-developed branch, on March 1st, 2019 it will begin receiving builds nightly and 15.1 will be moved to weekly builds.

LineageOS 16.0 will be launching with a small selection of devices. Additional devices will begin receiving builds as they are ready and after we make minor change to our build scripts to better handle the unique features, and resulting complications, of the most modern devices.

Upgrading to LineageOS 16.0

(Optional) Make a backup of your important data

Download the build either from download portal or built in Updater app

You can export the downloaded package from the Updater app to the sdcard by long-pressing it and then selecting “Export” in the popup menu

Please note that if you’re currently on an official build, you DO NOT need to wipe your device.

If you are installing from an unofficial build, you MUST wipe data from recovery before installing.

LineageOS 15.1 and 16.0 changelog

It’s now possible to set custom automatic update check intervals in the updater (never / once a day, once a week / once a month)

Calculator now supports dark mode through Styles API

Added “Mark as read” action in messages notifications

Exchange support

December 2018, January 2019 and February 2019 security patches have been merged

Webview has been updated to Chromium 71.0.3578.99

Goodbye LineageOS 14.1

The Nougat-based release has been discontinued and the last builds were published on February 7th, 2019. The branches will not be locked, so it’ll still be open for contributions such as security patches, as the 13.0 and 11.0 branches that have been getting security patches backported by the community. LineageOS 15.1 will remain under active development, but don’t expect new features to come since the majority of the developers have jumped to the Pie branch.

It is also important to note that though at the moment no devices are jumping directly from 14.1 to 16.0, any devices which do so in the future will need to wipe data, and follow the instructions on the device’s wiki page, as we don’t officially support migrating data from 14.1 to 16.0 for a variety of reasons.

Infrastructure

As announced in the previous blog post we have moved away from Jira in favor of GitLab issues for bug reporting.

The wiki has received a visual update to match the main website.

LineageOS 16.0 translations are available in Crowdin for those who’d like to contribute by translating LineageOS into their native language.

Device changes

Just as in the previous version, all the supported devices must meet all the requirements stated in the device-support charter.

Additionally, certain devices will be built on both supported versions in order to allow builds on a newer branch for users who would like a newer version while retaining support for the older version when certain critical device-specific features were lost to incompatibility in the newer branch.